Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Happy Anniversary to ME! Three years ago today my MIL Kathy handed me a Janome Memory Craft 10001 (along with tons of supplies and hands-on training) and I've been doing Machine Embroidery (ME) ever since! Thank you so much -- one of the best gifts I have ever received!!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Two different university students have worked in Annaliese's classroom this semester. In a day and age when our society completely undervalues educators, I'm always thrilled to know there are enthusiastic college students that choose to pursue a teaching degree! As a token of our appreciation, Annaliese took in a gift for both of them today to serve as a reminder of their time at Springwood Elementary. One will be back next year to do her internship, so maybe her tote bag will get lots of good use!The Owl Branch applique is from Embroidery Boutique. I chose the owl and turquoise materials for their school mascot and colors. I love this scrap of tree material I found in my stash!!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Last week I stitched a couple Special Delivery onesies that Michelle had ordered. This one is for a sweet family at church who had a baby boy:The original design is from Sew Terific Designs; I customized the design with baby's birthplace, birth date, time, weight and full name.And this one is for her co-worker who had a baby girl:Here's some fun "Stitched by Janay" trivia:Ryleigh's big sister Madison also received a Special Delivery onesie -- it was the first one I was commissioned to make! With the exception of a set of twins, this is the first time I have stitched the design for siblings!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Cherri asked me to make a little wall hanging using the logo for our women's ministry at church. Kathy digitized the "woven & spun" text for me (using the font Raleway). I used Embird Alphabet #16 for the rest (which isn't exactly the font that Annie used, but close enough for this project!).It was added to a sign-up board for the upcoming women's retreat, but can be saved and reused for future events.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Rebekah's sister recently had a baby! She wanted to take a special gift and asked if would make a blanket for her. She already had the material -- she bought the hot pink minkee a few years ago, get this, for A DOLLAR A YARD when a store was closing out (I would have gone NUTS!)! The green material already had embroidered dragonflies scattered on it. The blanket is about 50" square.Together we picked this monogram: Vintage Chloe alphabet from Embroidery Boutique.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Annaliese has enjoyed the Barbie movies for a long time, but recently has expressed interest in actual Barbie dolls. As part of her birthday gift, I stitched this shirt for her:The "Paris Pretty Bella Applique" is from Planet Applique. It is reminiscent of the Barbie logo:so I stitched it on a hot pink shirt. The silhouette comes plain, I added the necklace myself.We had a Barbie-themed birthday party where Annaliese and her friends visited a beauty parlor (nails painted and make-up applied) and then dressed up in this shirt and her pettiskirt (from Stephanie's Wonderland) for a fashion shoot. It was a lot of fun!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

I cannot believe my little girl is SIX years old!!This year for her birthday shirt we picked Lynnie Pinnie's Applique Cupcake 2. This design was perfect for imitating the layers on her skirt -- I had fun picking the fabrics for this project! The only modification Annaliese requested was an extra sprinkle so there would be six. :)Here's my big girl, ready to celebrate!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Today is Kylie's seventh (!) birthday. She loves stuffed animals, especially dogs, so her party this year is a puppy theme. I sent her and her mommy links to cute puppy designs, and she picked Planet Applique's Yorkie Terrier Puppy.Kylie picked the brown suede material for the applique. I added her name with the Chez font from 8 Claws and a Paw.We gave Kylie her shirt early so she could wear it at the party. Annaliese didn't want to arrive empty handed, so we came up with a fun supplemental gift idea. I monogrammed a tote bag for her, and we filled it with stuff for her to use while playing with her stuffed puppy: mini rawhide dog bones, a tennis ball, a collar/leash, etc. The paw print applique is from Five Star Fonts, and I used Embird Alphabet #14 for her name.When Annaliese got the invitation to Kylie's party she looked at me and said, "Do I have a dog shirt? Cause if I did, I'd wear it to her party." Well, if that's not a hint, I don't know what is! :) Lucky for Annaliese I had planned on embroidering several shirts for her birthday, so a dog shirt was added to the list. She picked Planet Applique's Labrador Puppy, and we used yellow fabric since she's taking Jed (her stuffed yellow lab) to the party.Here they are all worn out by the tail end of the party!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Those of you who have been following my blog for well over a year will remember that Kathy and I accepted our self-imposed challenge to embroider something for Annaliese for virtually all of her preschool themes last year--22 of 26! (If you don't remember, you can read more about Annaliese's "Miss Susie Inspired Wardrobe" and flip through a virtual scrapbook at your leisure.) When we were done I told Annaliese that we would NOT be doing this for kindergarten, and I've kept my word! Other than her First Day of School shirt and a turquoise owl shirt to show school spirit, I haven't stitched anything for a particular school theme. Until this week. :)The kindergarten classes have been doing a unit on Japan, and to celebrate the end of this unit they are going to a local Japanese restaurant for lunch. I decided this would be a perfect opportunity to stitch something special, thinking of Lynnie Pinnie's "Miso Cute" design. I told Annaliese of Japanese Miso soup, then showed her the design. She cackled, immediately getting the play on words all by herself. That sealed the deal!She cannot wait to wear this to school tomorrow and show her teacher. Can you tell she thinks she's so cute? :)

Sunday, April 4, 2010

This project has been quite an undertaking! I've wanted to make Annaliese and Dashiell matching reversible outfits using Martha Pullen's patterns for a long time. In the fall, I embellished pre-made items Kathy sent me, and at Christmas Annaliese's dress from the previous year still fit, so she didn't really need another. It was my goal to finally make a pair for spring/summer this year, and I achieved that! I worked off an on for four days and got them done in time for Easter Sunday.

Here is the spring side:
I purchased the material at JoAnns. It took me forever to find a print that worked well for both a boy and girl. Annaliese requested a bunny, and I just adore Lynnie Pinnie's Hopping Bunny, so that decision was pretty easy. I used the 5x7 size for A and the 4x4 size for D. I added their names with the Whoa Nelly font from 8 Claws and a Paw.
Lynnie Pinnie also had a mini bunny design, so I decided to try embroidered covered buttons for Annaliese's dress. I reduced the design to 80% and used a 1.5" button. They turned out so cute!!

And the summer side:
This material was a gift from Sandy at Dashiell's baby shower, and I'm finally using it! I spent a long time trying to decide what design to put on it. Asking Annaliese for her opinion made the process take even longer, but eventually we settled on Lynnie Pinnie's zig-zag applique crab. It comes in three sizes, I used the biggest size for Annaliese:
Dashiell's is the smallest:
LP also has a mini crab design, so this side has embroidered monogram buttons, too!
I was inspired by a dress I saw posted on Sew Forum, so I placed the crabs on the bottom, and stitched their monograms on the top. Again, I spent a lot of time finding a font that wasn't too feminine or masculine, and settled on the Bingham font for 8 Claws and a Paw. These resized well; I enlarged A's and reduced D's so they would be more proportional to the size of their outfit.
Whew, what a lot of work! We'll see if I can muster up enough strength to try this again for fall/winter. :)

Update: Here are my cuties in the crab side of their outfits!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Last week I finally got around to customizing these dishes for my kids. Now that Annaliese is in bed I can post pictures--they will find them in their Easter baskets in the morning. :)The Playtex "Create My Own" plate and bowl come as a set, the cups were purchased separately. I'm not sure if they are still available in stores (these were purchased well over a year ago) but you can find them online at the Playtex Store and other sites.For the monograms I used Five Star Font's "Not Too Girly Whirly" font. I rearranged the star/flower motifs to fit my space better. I also decided to use the lower case stacking font from the Diploma~Graduation monogram set for their names.

Paige ordered this Special Delivery onesie for a dear friend who recently had a baby boy:The original design is from Sew Terific Designs; I customized the design with baby's birthplace, birth date, time, weight and full name.

About Me

Math teacher turn SAHM, I received my first embroidery machine in 2007, transferring my love of fabric from quilting to machine applique. Knowing I can never repay the God-given talents I inherited from my mom nor the generosity of my mother-in-law, I choose to pay it forward. In my free time when I'm not stitching, you can find me blogging away, candidly sharing all the details of my recent projects to assist those new to the craft, inspire fellow embroiderers, and promote the fabulous digitizers that make it all possible.